Investigative Journalism Foundation

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Investigative Journalism Foundation is an independent, non-profit investigative newsroom based in Toronto that publishes public-interest journalism and builds public databases on political donations, lobbying, government procurement and access-to-information records in Canada.

Overview

The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) is an independent, non-profit newsroom based in Toronto, Ontario, that produces investigative and public-interest journalism about the intersection of money and power in Canada. Its reporting focuses on where government money comes from and how it is spent, who holds influence in government, and violations of the public trust. Alongside its own journalism, the IJF builds and maintains free public databases that turn government records on political donations, lobbying, procurement and access-to-information releases into searchable public resources.

Key functions and role

The IJF pursues its mandate in two connected ways: publishing original investigative reporting, often produced in collaboration with other Canadian newsrooms, and building public-interest databases that other journalists, researchers and members of the public can use to find their own stories. Its media partners include the CBC, National Post, The Walrus, CTV, The Canadian Press, Capital Daily, The Tyee, Canada's National Observer, the Vancouver Sun and The Narwhal. The organization also runs a Free Access for Journalists program that gives eligible working journalists in Canada a free subscription to its reporting and databases, and it works with a roster of academic partners at institutions including the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, Royal Military College of Canada, Bishop's University and the University of British Columbia. The IJF is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News and the National NewsMedia Council of Canada. As of its About page, it reports having produced more than 600 original investigations and maintaining more than 14 million rows of public-interest data, supported by more than $6 million in funding to date.

History

The IJF was founded by journalist Zane Schwartz, who had previously worked at the Calgary Herald, National Post, Maclean's and The Logic. As the 2017 Michelle Lang Fellow in Journalism, Schwartz built a searchable database of roughly five million Canadian political donations, a project that foreshadowed the IJF's data-driven model. In its submission to the Canadian Association of Journalists' awards program, the IJF describes itself as having been "founded in 2020 and publicly launched in 2023." The organization's own funder disclosures show it began receiving philanthropic and government support in its 2021 fiscal year, including from the Balsillie Family Foundation, C4C Canada and Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The IJF made its public launch on January 4, 2023, with an announcement from Schwartz titled "Join us and help rebuild Canadian journalism and democracy." Days later, Harvard's Nieman Lab profiled the new outlet; Schwartz described it as being like "ProPublica meets OpenSecrets," and the piece reported a founding staff of 12. A separate member directory maintained by the U.S.-based Institute for Nonprofit News lists the organization's "Year Founded" as 2022. By late 2026, the IJF's team page listed roughly 18 staff members, 11 academic partners and a five-member board of directors.

Notable Works

Public interest databases

• Political Donors — a searchable database of political donations across Canada.

• Procurement — a database of federal government contracts and spending.

• Open By Default — a repository of records released under Canada's Access to Information Act, developed with University of Ottawa law professor and academic partner Matt Malone.

• West Coast Accountability — a database focused on public accountability records in British Columbia.

• Residential Schools database — a collection of documents on Canada's residential school system, including material on abuse, conditions and survivors' accounts; the project won silver in the Human & Civil Rights category at the 2025 Anthem Awards.

Selected investigations

• "Trudeau's law society" (with the National Post, Aug. 9, 2023) — a data analysis finding that judges who donated to the Liberal Party were appointed to the bench more often than donors to the Conservative Party.

• An investigation into Canadian methamphetamine exports to New Zealand and Australia, produced with CTV News and reported by IJF reporter Zak Vescera — awarded gold (Janice Johnston Award, Crime and Justice Reporting) at the 2026 Canadian Association of Journalists Awards.

• "Guarding Government: Behind the federal government's shift to for-profit security" (Sept. 8, 2026) — an investigation into lobbying by Montreal-based security firm GardaWorld to scrap a federal policy that gave right of first refusal to the non-profit Commissionaires.

• "American weapons and tech firm Axon has Canadian police in a chokehold" (Sept. 2, 2026) — an investigation into surveillance-technology contracts between Axon and police forces across almost every Canadian province.

Recognition received

The following awards were conferred on the IJF by outside organizations; the IJF does not itself administer any of these programs.

• Fast Company — World's Most Innovative Companies, 2025 (cited by the IJF as the sixth most innovative media company in the world).

• Canadian Online Publishing Awards — Investigative and Continuing Coverage, 2025; Best Continuing Coverage and Human & Civil Rights: News and Journalism, 2026.

• Anthem Awards — Human & Civil Rights, 2024 and 2025.

• Canadian Association of Journalists Awards — Best Scoop (silver), 2025; Janice Johnston Award for Crime and Justice Reporting (gold), 2026.

• LION Publishers — Product of the Year, 2024.

Leadership

Zane Schwartz has served as CEO and Editor-in-Chief since founding the organization; he also volunteers as the National Chair of the Canadian Association of Journalists. Meghan Snider is Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the IJF's revenue strategy, strategic partnerships and operations. Cecil Rosner, a veteran journalist and trainer who spent more than 30 years as a producer and manager at the CBC, is Managing Editor. The organization's five-member Board of Directors is chaired by Brent Jolly, President of the Canadian Association of Journalists and Managing Director of the National NewsMedia Council, and also includes Schwartz, Sadia Zaman (CEO of the Inspirit Foundation), Cheryl McKenzie (Executive Director of APTN News & Current Affairs) and John Campbell (counsel at Gowling WLG LLP).

Location and contact info

Address
192 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2, Canada
Phone
(647) 955-3304
Website
https://theijf.org